Five Digital Trends That Will Stick Around For 2019
Digital Trends to look out for in 2019.
As we head into the new year, we find many businesses consider that it might be time to rethink their social media strategy for 2019. Around this time of year, we hear resolutions and goals being thrown around such as “This year I want to double my following” or “I’m going to much more ahead of my social media planning”, but how do you actually go about doing that?
To help our clients, we’ve pin pointed a few trends that are likely to stick around this year. Based on our own research and professional experience, below are a few digital marketing trends we suggest taking a look at for the upcoming year;
Content Will Still Reign
Content marketing will continue to be a crucial component of digital marketing. The quality is always going to be the focal point, but there’s also an increased interest in who the intended audience is. Having a more in depth understanding of a targeted market, and the ability to target that market more precisely is a rising trend in creating effective marketing.
While general content for the mass audience will always be important, specialised content for specific industries can also produce impressive results. A combination of specific content and constantly improving techniques for measuring content effectiveness, content marketing remains relevant and essential in 2019.
Video Marketing Continues To Rise
Video marketing will be the leader of digital trends in 2019. It is predicted that 80% of the online content will take up the form of visual representation. The videos will be the focal point of any marketing strategy as these will distribute the message in a better way while providing entertainment to the viewers.
Video has become a favourite form of communication since the rapid adoption of smartphones and social media apps. More than ever, we are seeing that video content does not have to have a high production value. Don’t shy away from pulling your smartphone out and recording a message to your potential customers about a recent win or to share some insights that will be valuable to them!
Chatbots Are Here To Stay
This AI based tech uses instant messaging to chat in real time, 24/7 with your customers or site visitors. Chatbots are here to stay as many customers prefer interacting with a chatbot as they are responsive, give answers almost immediately, they recall your entire buying history and best of all, they never lose patience.
Sephora is the perfect example of an advanced business. You can get all kinds of make-up tips if you chat to Sephora using the Kik App. The personal assistant feature also provides you with product reviews when you’re shopping in a store.
Email Is Getting More Personalised
Email continues to be a strong contender as a channel of communication with billions still using it for work, personal and commercial purposes. In fact, “Email remains a significantly more effective way to acquire customers than social media- nearly 40 times that of Facebook and Twitter combined”- McKinsey & Company.
In 2019, a combination of automation and more importantly, personalisation will make email marketing effective.
If you feel stuck on gaining a customer database, the easiest thing to do is run a competition. The old age marketing trick of attracting people to your brand by giving something away still works!
Storification
The stories format has boomed in 2018 on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp. It is even being tested by Linkedin!
Brands need to consider that although posts with high resolution and quality production values are still important, less polished, more intimate content performs better in the stories format. Consumers often feel more comfortable with brands when to see raw but authentic, in the moment views into the backgrounds of brands.
It’s not too late to start planning your digital marketing strategy for 2019, and our sister company The Social Co Academy can help brush up those skills! Check out their training resources here.
Thinking about outsourcing your digital marketing strategy to an agency? Contact us today for more information.
How to strategically use graphic quotes on Instagram
It’s time to debunk the stereotype that graphic quotes on Instagram are only used as a last resort, as filler content when you’ve run out of original content ideas.
We think brands need to embrace the quote, the info-graphic, the text template, and we are here to tell you why!
They help generate engagement
Text images or graphic quote are very to the point, they are a great tool to utilise when you want to draw attention to something specific, for example a sale, or a big campaign. Breaking up your feed with quotes and text means that the message will be more obvious and not hidden in a caption underneath a pretty picture. Additionally, posting inspirational, humorous or thought provoking quotes is engaging to your followers because it’s something new and different in terms of branded content.
Promotions/Testimonials
Promoting the amazing comments, reviews and testimonials your brand receives through graphic quotes is an amazing way to promote your business. Consumers love to hear what people are saying about products their considering buying – so what better way to grab their attention than through snappy, succinct quote posts on your socials?
Conversation Starters
Posting thought provoking quotes or question graphics is a great way to engage and start a conversation with your audience. A branded graphic asking followers “what’s your favourite product of ours” and prompting them to respond in the comments is a great way to create relationships with your followers and keep them engaged.
Building Brand Awareness
One of the best things about implementing the use of quotes or text images into your feed is the ability to make them branded. You have the ability to choose the colour scheme, the appropriate text and also the opportunity to put your logo on these templates. In doing all this, you’re generating more awareness for your brand and keeping it at the forefront of your followers mind - all while maintaining that gorgeous Instagram grid!
Want a little help creating gorgeous graphic quotes for your brand? Contact our team today to find out what we can do for you.
Or, perhaps you'd like to browse our range of graphic templates we've created via The Social Files.
Four Ideas To Inspire Great Content
This Week We're Sharing Four Ideas To Inspire Great Content
Content is the driving force behind all aspects of communications. Whether it be social media, public relations, marketing campaigns; content is at the heart of every strategic approach. Coming up with content ideas is so important, but it’s no surprise that coming up with new ideas all the time can sometimes be a struggle!
Don't worry, we're here to help! This week, we've put together four helpful ideas to help inspire and stimulate your content ideas.
Check out what your competitors are doing and find opportunities to create even better content
Cut down the time you spend coming up with new ideas and look to your competitors, because they’re handing them to you! They’re your competitors for a reason, so sift through their content and find some content opportunities that you could do better!
Review what you’re currently doing and improve upon it
There is always room to improve, so be sure to always review your current and past content to see where there is room for improvement. Making sure you’re always refining and tweaking your content will keep it fresh and the best it can be.
Look at your analytics to see what content is doing well and then create more of it
This tip is important; statistics don’t lie, so trust in them and use them as a guide for what is working and what isn’t. Review the content that has done well statistically, assess why it’s been successful and apply this knowledge to future content, this will in turn ensure that your future content is engaging and well received by your audience.
Make sure you create content of significance for your audience
An obvious one, making sure your content is geared towards your audience will help your content to be valuable and specific. Keeping your audience in mind at all times will help spark idea that your audience will love!
Repackage your existing content
Make the old new again by revamping some past content! There’s no rule that says you cant reuse content, so when your lacking inspiration, sift through the archives and repackage some vintage content.
Would you like to know more about our Content Creation services? Contact us today.
Should you make your Instagram feed shoppable?
Consumers have shorter attention spans than ever, so discovering a way to streamline the shopping experience from inspiration through to purchase was crucial. Without further ado, it’s time to introduce the shoppable Instagram feed!
Have you seen those posts on Instagram with a little shopping bag logo in the corner? Those posts are what we call ‘shoppable’ posts, meaning if someone taps the image, a product name and price will pop up, allowing the user to purchase the product.
Originally, shopping on Instagram was only available to businesses in the United States, but it has since expanded internationally with businesses in over 44 countries now being able to utilise the feature.
Many big-name brands have made their Instagram feeds shoppable, in order to connect with customers in a fresh, more immersive way. The shopping on Instagram feature encourages customers to follow through with their intended purchase. Many shoppers will abandon the shopping pursuit if it’s too difficult. For example, a customer sees a pair of pants on an Instagram feed and heads to the link in bio to shop it. They’re taken to the main website and have to sort through hundreds of pairs of pants. Unless they’ve fallen head over heels for the pants, they’ll most likely abandon the shop and look elsewhere. Sad face.
So, a shoppable Instagram essentials tries to prevent this from happening by making the shopping experience seamless. By tagging products in posts, you’re allowing consumers to complete the entire buyer journey from discovery to checkout, without ever leaving the Instagram app!Talk about a one stop shop!
If you have quite a large inventory with an extensive range of products, we’d strongly recommend creating a shoppable feed. This way, consumers can simply shop the look they love straight from Instagram rather than having to look through a website.
If you have a smaller stock offering, it’s completely up to you whether you want to adopt a shoppable feed or not. We definitely wouldn’t discourage the idea but go with whatever you feel comfortable with!
Still not sure whether a shoppable feed is a good fit for you and your business? Why not pencil in a chat with our team to discuss your Instagram strategy.
Want help creating the visuals for your Instagram feed? Read more here.
The Importance of a Digital Strategy
Being a digital marketing agency, it’s no secret we place great importance on digital strategy and planning. This week we're chatting with our Senior Creative Strategist, Michaela Skilney, who gives some insight into her approach to digital strategy and its significance.
- What challenges do you face when developing a digital strategy?
One of the biggest challenges I face when developing digital strategies for clients is reconciling what’s a reasonable and realistic outcome for a campaign, and what the client expects to achieve. It’s essential to set goals and aspire to reach particular objectives, however social media isn’t an exact science.
More often than not, clients are under the false illusion that an agency can guarantee what content will go viral and how many followers they can attract. The truth is, if an agency can guarantee those types of outcomes, they’ll be employing the likes of automated bots, which are completely at odds with all platform’s T&Cs (and I would be running in the opposite direction!)
What a digital strategy can guarantee is that your social media presence is the greatest reflection of your brand, your offering and what appeals to your audience.
- Does your approach differ client to client?
Every client, regardless of how similar their product, service or audience is, will have a unique set of goals, a unique promotional calendar and to be successful, unique selling points. It’s therefore impossible to adopt a one-size-fits-all-approach from client to client. It may be less efficient on paper this way, to view client’s in isolation, but that’s the difference between what you get with a boutique agency like ours versus a strategy template you can download online!
- In your opinion, is having a digital strategy as significant as a traditional marketing plan?
Regardless of what medium you’re working in – traditional or digital marketing – a strategy is essential to give your efforts a sense of purpose. Without strategic thought and planning prior to the commencement of a campaign, you’re essentially setting yourself up to fail. Without the right preparation, you find you’ll always be in reactive mode and constantly behind the 8-ball!
- When developing a digital strategy, what research is involved?
There’s a ton of research involved when developing a digital strategy, predominantly around target audiences and their digital user habits. Most of the time, clients know their brands intimately and can share the history of their business off the top of their heads. What they mightn’t know, where I come in, is who their current digital audience is, and whether that marries with who they want it to be. The purpose – and outcome – of any digital content, whether that be a social media post, a blog or an EDM (electronic direct mail), is that it will reach someone and be consumed. Research at the digital strategy phase allows for your content to be targeted and seen by those you want to engage.
- Where’s the best place to start when constructing a digital strategy?
In order to create a digital strategy – a plan of attack for a brand that truly speaks to who they are and who they want to be – I need to fully immerse myself in what they do so that the end result feels as though it’s been crafted in-house. This usually begins by meeting with key business stakeholders for a complete brain dump on their part (their offering, their customer, their strengths, their weaknesses, their current digital output, their digital likes and dislikes, their projected sales etc.) as well as understanding what pre-planned promotions, product launches and events are in place for the next 3-6 months. These steps are the foundation on which I build my strategies, so you could say they’re non-negotiable!
- Do you believe every business should have some sort of a digital plan?
Embracing all things digital can be overwhelming for some brands and business owners, but it’s unavoidable. Consumer habits have changed from bricks and mortar stores to online shopping, and information gathering shifting from magazines and catalogues to social media and blogs. If you want your brand to thrive, let alone be relevant, you need to have a digital presence – and what kind of presence you have all depends on a solid digital strategy.
Want to chat to Michaela and our team about putting together a bespoke digital strategy for your brand? Contact us: info@staging.project-progress.net to find out more.
The ultimate guide to Instagram stories
Instagram continues to climb the ranks of popularity when it comes to social media platforms and it’s not hard to see why! Interestingly, more and more users are shifting their attention to Instagram stories, which means brands should be utilising the feature to help build brand awareness and increase engagement rates. We’ve put together a guide on all things Instagram stories to help you conquer this fun feature of Instagram!
Location, Mentions & Hashtags – Including hashtags, mentions or a location in your story is a great way to increase discoverability and get it seen by more people – even users that don’t follow you will be able to see it!
GIFs– These are huge right now. Everyone is having a lot of fun adding quirky GIFs to their stories whether it’s wine glasses clinking or a piece of pizza dancing. They’re something a bit different to your plain ol’ text and will make people smile so why not use them!
Polls– Who doesn’t love a good poll? Pasta or pizza? The Notebook or The Holiday? Polls are a fun way to encourage users to engage with your brand through stories. There’s a new poll feature too called the ‘emoji slider’. It allows users to decide how much they like or dislike something with the help of an animated emoji on a sliding scale.
Sharing posts to your story– An exciting new feature of Instagram Stories is that you can use it to cross-promote your content. From your profile, you can choose to share your latest post/s to your story. By doing so you can drive more engagement by encouraging your story viewers to view your post and ultimately get more eyes on your content.
Highlights – Back in the beginning, Instagram stories were ephemeral in nature as they only lasted for 24 hours. This is still the case, but Instagram created an option to extend their life and it’s called ‘highlights’. You can now save your stories and they will live permanently on your Instagram profile until you delete them. Your highlights section isa creative way to express your brand, show off products, drive traffic, or market your business!
It’s obvious that Instagram stories can benefit your business, and with Instagram introducing IGTV, we imagine a lot more people are going to migrate to Instagram and stay there. Instagram are trying to be a one stop shop for all things social, so now is the time to embrace all its affordances for your business!
If you think your business could benefit from a greater Instagram presence, and would like a little help doing so, shoot us an email – we’d love to chat with you about your digital strategy!
IGTV & What It Means For Content Creators
For content creators, the biggest news of the day is the announcement of Instagram’s latest development: the launch of IGTV, a video content stream within the app. IGTV is specifically tailored to be more mobile friendly than YouTube, providing content directly from major creators currently on Instagram.
The news was delivered via Instagram’s business page, with the company saying IGTV will bring audiences “closer to the creatives they love”. IGTV has been created around the insights that audiences are increasingly straying from traditional forms of video consumption, towards consumption of online video content via mobile devices. A direct quote from the business page says:
“We're evolving with the times; these days, people are watching less TV and more digital video. By 2021, mobile video will account for 78% of total mobile data traffic. And we've learned that younger audiences are spending more time with amateur content creators and less time with professionals.”
One of the most distinctive features of IGTV is the dimensions of the content (9:16), meaning videos will be made to fit phone screens rather than traditional desktop dimensions (used by YouTube). Snapchat Discover (the closest comparison for IGTV) currently provides videos in a mobile friendly format, however the service hasn’t received the popularity originally anticipated, with several shows being cancelled due to lack of viewer interest.
IGTV will allow content up to 60 minutes long, a major development from the current 60 second video limit on the Instagram app. The app also starts playing content from the moment you open the app, and boasts it’s simplicity with regards to browsing and finding content.
There is currently no ad service within the IGTV app yet, although the brand has indicated that this will be a likely development as the app gains momentum. In the meantime, brands can have a presence on the app simply through content creation. As users become more resistant to traditional advertising, they are increasingly expecting engaging, relevant content from the brands they follow; IGTV being the newest platform for brands to experiment with long form content.
If you’d like to learn more about content creation or how we can connect your brand to your target market, contact us at info@staging.project-progress.net.
The Latest Instagram Algorithm Changes
Want to know how Instagram's latest algorithm will decide what photos and videos show up in your feed? We’ve got all the answers!
Done in an effort to refresh the app and improve chronology, Instagram is opening up about what’s new and why.
A personalised feed
The new algorithm places a focus on ensuring everyone’s feed is unique and relevant to the user. This personalisation is done through monitoring who you interact with and past behaviors. Basically, a users level of engagement with certain accounts will determine how much or how little they will see of that content.
A big part of this new and improved personalised feed is to prioritise posts from your ‘friends and family’. The updated algorithm claims that users will now see 90% of the posts from their ‘friends and family’ (as determined by Instagram), as opposed to 50%, which was the percentage prior to the algorithm change.
Breaking it down - interest, timeliness and relationship
To help us further understand the new algorithm, Instagram has broken it down into three important determining classifications: interest, timeliness and relationship.
Interest = how interested they think you’ll be in the post
If Instagram thinks you’ll be interested in a post, they will prioritise it and it will appear higher in your feed. How do they determine what they think you will like? Well, they base this on your past behavior and engagement with similar content.
Timeliness = relating to how recently a photo was posted
This new aspect of the algorithm intends to limit how often users are seeing ‘old’ posts from weeks ago and helps keep users feeds more recent and up to date.
Relationship = determining the ‘friends and family’ category
Instagram is taking more notice of users relationships with other users. For example, if you frequently comment or are tagged in a person’s photos instagram takes that to mean you have some sort of a relationship with them and they will be categorised as your ‘friends and family’.
So what can your business do to make sure your posts are being seen and heard in the Instagram feed? Why not pencil in a chat with our team to discuss your Instagram strategy.
Instagram Aesthetics - The Importance of a Cohesive Theme
If you’re an Instagram addict like all of us at Melbourne Social Co., you may have noticed that many of the app’s most popular accounts have more in common with each other than just a high follower count.
Successful Instagram feeds are, above all, aesthetically pleasing, but in a cohesive way that accurately reflects the aesthetics, vision and message of the person or brand.
One of the main ways to achieve such a visually consistent and impactful feed is by implementing an Instagram ‘theme’. What this means is that there is a visual common thread between all of your posts, so that when someone views your feed it will look cohesive and organised. All your posts will in some way look like they go together.
But what's the right approach for your brand? We discuss a few different ways to implement an Instagram theme below.
Pick a colour
There’s an infinite number of themes to choose from for your feed, but you’ll want to pick one that suits your content and aesthetic. For example, you could have a colour coordinated theme, where a certain colour (or colours) appear in every post. These colours should reflect your aesthetic, and perhaps the design of your brand’s product or logo. The repeating colours will help make your feed look visually stimulating and organised, as well as creating an association between you/your brand and those specific colours.
A common subject
Alternatively, your theme may govern the content of the images you post. For example, your theme could be based around a specific object that appears in every post, such as coffee, plants, water or food; whatever you like! This type of theme tends to be best suited to Instagram accounts that function to promote a specific type of product.
Post & repeat
Another popular theme that guides the content you post creates a repeating pattern of two or three different types of images. For example, this could be set out with two photos of people or scenery for every text post. The text post is usually positioned in between the two photos so that when the feed is viewed as a whole the text posts create a line down the middle. This theme allows for some diversity of content, while also maintaining an organised and symmetrical look to your feed.
A theme for your Instagram page is important for more reasons than just creating a uniform feed and guiding the content you post. Remember that the follow button is located at the top of your main feed, so people are viewing your account and most recent posts as one entity that represents your brand as a whole when they are deciding whether or not to follow you. For that reason, you want to put your best foot forward with the type of cohesive, visually pleasing and professional feed that a theme can help you achieve.
Improve your engagement
One of the other key reasons an Instagram theme is so important is because it can help improve engagement and your connection with your audience. A consistent theme will help your posts stand out to your followers in their feeds littered with hundreds of other accounts’ posts. The element of repetition in your theme will also mean your audience will know what to expect from your posts, allowing them to easily understand the messages you are trying to communicate relating to your brand.
Because Instagram is one of the most powerful platforms available to you to promote yourself and your brand, it is important that your feed reflects who you are and effectively communicates the messages you are trying to get across to your audience. A theme allows you to achieve this in the most aesthetically pleasing way possible, while still appearing professional and creating interesting content for your audience. So, if you haven’t started planning a gorgeous new theme for your feed already – what are you waiting for?!
Do you need help developing a theme for your Instagram account, or creating gorgeous content to fill your feed? Get in touch with us here at Melbourne Social Co!
Contact us today: info@staging.project-progress.net
The real cost of buying likes and followers
If you’ve ever been frustrated or disappointed by a lack of followers or likes on your page, chances are you’ve considered purchasing followers on your Facebook or Instagram platforms. At first, this may seem like a simple solution: it’s a small cost and you now have a heap of followers! If users see your online popularity that’ll attract genuine customers, right?
This is the logic that platforms selling followers would promote. The reality is, purchasing likes and followers is not only wasted money, but is detrimental to your analytics, and can create distrust amongst your target audience.
One of the reasons social media is such a powerful platform for advertisers is not only the opportunity to reach consumers, but the analytics it provides. If you run your own Facebook or Instagram business page, the reports you can access on who’s engaging with your page are vital for planning any campaign.
In the age of widespread digital advertising, the way to engage with potential customers is tailoring ads to their interests and social media habits. If your reports and analytics are cluttered with disingenuous likes and follows, not only will you be missing out on the analytics of your potential customers, but your advertising dollars will be wasted on wide reach ads (which thanks to the algorithm changes, are less likely for anyone to see).
Another major disadvantage of buying followers is that it can damage consumer trust. If you’re advertising via social media, chances are your target audience includes some tech savvy, regular users, who know what organic brand engagement looks like. If your page has a heap of followers which doesn’t equate to likes and comments, consumers will suspect your followers aren’t genuine, and may deter the users that could have turned into customers.
Ultimately, the main reason your brand is advertising is to attract genuine customers. Having likes and followers is a great measure of how your audience is responding to your content, but the only value behind these likes is to tailor engaging content, which will attract users to your brand. The money spent on buying followers could be spent better on literally anything else: buying props for your flatlays, boosting a Facebook post, even an extra coffee will be better for your brand than followers that have to be bought.
If you’d like to know more about creating great content and reaching your audience, contact us at info@staging.project-progress.net
